Craft Beer is Elevated in South Minneapolis

A brand new store is opening in south Minneapolis, and it is looking to take your liquor store experience to the next level.

Owners Ryan Widuch and Tom Boland are home brewers and big-time craft beer fans. So, when the opportunity to open a store focused on craft beer presented itself the long-time buddies jumped in with both feet.
The original plan was to open a boutique store carrying only craft beer. But, when the guys came across the vacant Hiawatha Joe’s space the size of the building allowed them to expand their operation. And expand they did.

They took over the old coffee shop and immediately started making it their own. The walls were knocked out and about dozen reach in coolers were installed. They commissioned a friend of the family to hand build racks for a giant build-your-own sixer section. They installed a beer cave (walk-in cooler), and added a nook with a multi-media center for samples and educational seminars.
Beer isn’t the only thing this store is taking to the next level. I could not believe their section of wine. You might have guessed that I’m not into wine. However, I know plenty of beer people that are. They are going to be happy to have a store that can meet their beer & wine needs. Local certified Sommelier Leslee Miller of Amusée was brought in to lend a hand in selecting wine and stocking the massive wine selection.

Ryan Widuch said the biggest surprise was how long everything took.
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“We started looking at potential locations for the store last November. The longest part of the process was getting licensed,” he said. “From the day we applied for our CUP (Conditional Use Permit) to the day that we received our actual license it was about 6 months.”

After a long wait and a lot of long hours, the store is ready to open today.